Agree to my 3 demands, will end fast: Anna

Agree to my 3 demands, will end fast: Anna

Reacting to Parliament's appeal to end his fast, Anna Hazare on Thursday demanded that Parliament discuss from Friday three key issues on Jan Lokpal and create an agreement, failing which he will not end his fast.

"I have sent a message to the Prime Minister. If you want to pass Jan Lokpal bill then start the discussion on Friday morning. I have three demands. If there is support (for them), then I can consider ending the fast," he told his supporters at the Ramlila Grounds.

He was reacting to the appeal from Parliament that he end his fast after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made an offer to the civil society that the Jan Lokpal bill will be discussed by Parliament.

Hazare said he has sent this message through Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh when he come to meet him at the fast site and appealed to him to end his hunger strike.

'I will end my fast but will not end the protest'

"You (PM) say, you are worried. Now he is saying that we are worried but for ten days you were not worried. It went on like this," he said, adding the government had betrayed him twice in the past and now he would not like to be betrayed for the third time.

While taking note of the appreciation by the Prime Minister, Speaker and Leader of the Opposition, Hazare wondered why the Opposition is keeping mum on the Jan Lokpal bill.

"Why are you keeping quiet? You should say that we will support this bill and ask the government to bring it. But now everyone has joined hands because they fear that power will slip out of their hands," the 74-year-old Gandhian told the opposition.

Hazare told the opposition to "put pressure" on the government on the issue.

The Gandhian said the three demands made to the Prime Minister are--citizen's charter in government offices, inclusion of the provision for creation of Lokayuktas in all states and inclusion of lower bureaucracy.

"If the three issues are agreed to, then I will end my fast but will not end the protest. I will not leave this place," Hazare said.

'People are supreme. We have to create the change.'

He also noted that MPs and the Speaker appreciated the protest and even the Prime Minister saluted him. "It is not because of me, it is all because of you people," he said.

He said whether he was alive or not the torch of revolution should continue. "It is becoming difficult for poor to live. We have to create the change. Lot of people are living only to eat and some are eating to live," Hazare said.

"People are supreme. All officers should be brought under the Lokpal. All officers from the village to city should be under the Lokpal," he said.

If Lokpal is passed corruption at the Centre will be curbed but what about the corruption at state-level, he asked.

"If Lokayuktas are not established along with Lokpal, the corruption at state-level cannot be curbed. How can we do that? All states should have Lokayukta and they should be independent," he said.

Image: Supporters of Hazare shout slogans from a vehicle after being detained during a protest outside the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan SinghPhotographs: Reuters